It's International Women's Day today (March 8).All over the world today, women stand in solidarity with their sisters fighting for peace, justice and equality.The fight has been long and hard and it continues to be long and hard.
Consider these pieces of bad news:
* Three young Iraqi women, Wassan Talib, 31, Zainab Fadhil, 25, and Liqa Omar Muhammad,26, were sentenced by an Iraqi court to be executed on charges which are unclear.The Brussels Tribunal has issued a statement against this.It is quite heartbreaking.The execution has been postponed pending an appeal but nobody knows when the appeal is.The three women had no lawyers at all when they were sentenced and are being held in prison where one of them gave birth.
*Thirty-eight Iranian women's rights defenders were arrested on March 4 in a peaceful demonstration in Tehran.There is an online petition calling for their release here. Please do sign it. International pressure has worked before in securing the release of women activists in Iran so your signature is important.
*Fatima Al Thami 34 & Mansour Al-Timani, 37 of Saudi Arabia have been married for over three years. Fatima’s late father approved the marriage and the couple have two children. (The father has since passed away, leaving the power of attorney and, more important, custody rights over Fatima in the event of her separation from her husband, to his male children, Fatima’s two half- brothers.)
A divorce in absentia was sought by Fatima’s half-brothers on the grounds of Mansour’s “inferior” tribal lineage. The divorce was granted in absentia. An appeal was requested by Fatima’s Lawyer but as of January 21, 2007 the appeals-court ruling has upheld the original court ruling.
Fatima was told to return to her guardian’s home (her half brother’s) and she has refused to return to the custody of the family members who intervened on her three-year marriage to Mansour Al-Timani, 37.
The 34-year-old woman remains in prison (for her safety) while her infant boy lives in prison with his mother. She has continued to languish in prison in Dammam since last summer while her two-year-old girl remains in Mansour’s (the father’s) custody
Mansour Al-Timani, who was forcibly divorced from his wife Fatima, also claims that the half-brothers have always had disputes with his wife's mother. "They have had problems in the past over inheritance," said Timani.
Blackmailing their female relatives with forced divorce on the grounds of unequal tribal stature in order to make them relinquish their inheritance has already been documented.
Please visit the signatures page of the Say 'No' to Forced Divorce, Yes to Reforms and support the Al-Timanis.
* In Pakistan, women suffer one of the worst situations in the world. According to Amnesty International, domestic violence and physical abuse, which includes rape, acid throwing, burning, and "honor" killings is still widespread in Pakistan. Acid-throwing is on the increase. The government has done little to restrict the sale of acid or to punish those who use it to injure women. "Honor" killings continue to be reported daily. Pakistan is also both a country of origin and a transit country for the trafficking of women for domestic labor, forced marriage and prostitution
+Between 2001 and March 2006, over 1,900 Guatemalan women and girls have been brutally murdered. Exceptional cruelty and sexual violence characterize many of the killings. Some of the victims had their throats cut, were beaten, shot or stabbed to death. Many of their bodies show signs of rape, torture, mutilation or dismemberment. According to press reports, 531 women were killed between January and October 2005, surpassing the total figure of 527 in 2004. The police have reported that sexual violence against women has increased. According to information received by Amnesty International, since the transfer of cases of murdered women to the Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes Against Life in January 2005, there have been no convictions or sentences on any cases.
*Since 1993, almost 400 women and girls have been murdered and more than 70 remain missing in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, Mexico.A new Special Prosecutor's office to investigate crimes against women has been set up which has reviewed the original investigations.According to Amnesty International,177 state officials were found to have been possibly responsible for negligence or omission in the original investigations. However, none of these officials has been brought to justice by the state authorities as the statute of limitations has been applied in their favour.
*Much of the violence perpetrated in the Darfur conflict has resulted in grave human rights violations against women. These violations against women and girls include abductions, rape and forced displacement. The only real protection being provided for Darfuri women and girls has been from African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), despite significant restrictions on its capabilities. Read about it here and especially watch two short clips from a documentary called Sameera's Tears.
*At the end of 2006, 17 million women were living with HIV, an increase of 1 million since 2004.According to the Global Coalition of Women against HIV, globally, violence against women is both a cause and a consequence of HIV/AIDS: women facing violence within intimate relationships often cannot negotiate safer sex practices, such as condom use. Rape and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation also spread the virus. In addition to untenable levels of stigma and discrimination from the community, women who test positive for HIV are often subjected to physical abuse from partners and can face
eviction from their homes. Further, as a result of such stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, they are prevented from obtaining life-saving medical care and treatment.
These issues underscore the concern that women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is attributed to social roots, not just biological ones. Their subordinate position in many societies can make it impossible for them to protect themselves from HIV.
* And here in Malaysia, it has been over a year since the Islamic Family Law was forcibly passed through Parliament and then immediately sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers for review.Many consultations have been held with many NGOs but to this day, there has been no news on what the result of these consultations have been and what will happen next. As long as the law stays as it is, Muslim women in Malaysia remain at an inferior status to their non-Muslim sisters with regards to their rights in marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance.
The fact that this law is retrogressing from earlier days when Malaysia had one of the most advanced laws protecting Muslim women is an indication of the kind of mindset towards women's rights and women in general in our country, despite the Constitutional amendment preventing discrimination on the basis of gender in 2004. The latest fiasco in Selangor concerning a survey of delinquent girls in order to find ways to prevent immorality among girls only serves to show the one-sidedness of official thinking, where the role of boys in this 'immorality' is totally disregarded.Would there be as big an outcry if a study showed that many boys are not virgins either?
But it hasn't all been misery. Here and there, there are success stories:
* On Feb 4, 2007, a Kuwaiti parliamentary panel has approved landmark
draft legislation that grants a host of benefits to women in the oil-rich
Gulf state, the head of the committee said.
MP Saleh Ashour said the bill allows women to seek government housing on a
par with men, increases paid leave to 70 days from a current 40 and grants
maternity leave for up to two years.
The legislation must be passed by parliament and signed by the emir to
become effective. Ashour expected the bill to be debated in the house in
March or April.
Under Kuwaiti law, only male citizens who are married can apply for a
government house. The new bill gives the same right to Kuwaiti women who
are divorced, widowed or married to foreigners.
The bill also obliges the government to pay monthly assistance of 865
dollars to Kuwaiti women who are married, have children but don't have a
job.
* Last December, a woman was elected to an advisory council in the United Arab Emirates in the first national polls in the Gulf country, in which only a tiny part of the population is taking part.Read about it here.
11 comments:
"... from earlier days when Malaysia had one of the most advanced laws protecting Muslim women..."
I suppose this was because we inherited British law.
Actually Kheng Siong, no, the British did not bother at all with any of the Islamic laws which is why the Sultans are the heads of religion in their states, a legacy from the colonial days. It was the one area that the Brits were not interested in.
By 'earlier' days, I mean only within the last 20 years or so. We used to have much more enlightened people not too long ago.
Happy International Women's Year to you!!!!
I am impressed with yr blog. Awesome,I must say.Plse keep on posting.
boh tong (ex SIA crew execuitve
Marina, when you and other NGO's write it like this "As long as the law stays as it is, Muslim women in Malaysia remain at an inferior status to their non-Muslim sisters with regards to their rights in marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance", it tends to leave somewhat a foul smell in my mouth.
Reading it, seems to suggest that the only reason for the grous is that the dismay of the Muslim women is that their status has been lowered to that of the non-Muslim women and you want it to be the same. Well, in this boleh land of ours that can be very easily achieved by doing what they did to Muslim women to non-Muslim women too so that both will stand at the deflated platform that you find yourself in. That will debunk your present complaint as presently stated.
What you really want is to stand at the elevated position you were originally in. Your frustration cannot be stated to look like it comes from seeing yourself unfairly treated vis a vis non-Muslim women. They are not part of this deal nor are their fellow men.
Hi marina! I am just watched UNAIDS wonderful documentary on women and AIDS and I believe you were in it.
I am trying to bring up the issue of AIDS in the muslim world on my blog as well as my community in Sweden and I would like to know where I could find teh folder on Islam and AIDS that you mentioned in the documentary.
I am really ecnouraged listening about your work, and I hope we can all help each other.
Happy IWD!
Can't help agreeing with old fart although I'm an old female fart myself. Too much femininism is counter-productive. The new strategy should be collaborative. There are only two genders and we complement each other. So what the heck! Malaysian women, especially the professionals are walking around in a contived euphoria. You are good -Great! So are your other sisters and brothers in their own way. This bloated sense of self is no good for anybody! Yes - fight for the marginalised women but give them a good, balanced sense of self and self worth vis a vis men!
Old Fart, if you could highlight in what areas non-Muslim women in Malaysia are legally disadvantaged as compared to Muslim women, I will be happy to forward it to other women's rights activists so they may take it up.
Meantime I hope we are all working to also help our marginalised sisters both here and in other countries.
Marina,
I am not a feminist nor am I a MCP. I have always had the feeling that all of us are created equal and as at least there is one woman, my mother, who stands well above me, I cannot possibly accept the diminishing or subordination of the status of a woman vis a vis a man.
In fact I have postulated a theory which might get my head chopped off by enraged men as it might suggest how weak we men really are compared to women. It is the knowledge of this incapacity, despite the muscles and obvious stamina and strength, to stay the course with women where it really matters to most men, that you may find all these man made rules are derived from to subjugate women. So with brute force and a little braun men have decided the best course for them would be to undermine women. I would like to think that I am emancipated from such thinking and so I don't see the need for women to be subordinated to men in any which way. I have two daughters myself and I cannot see them subordinating themselves before men just because some man they come across is insecure otherwise.
As for non-muslim women, there is no legal subordination of their status, so far as I can see. Of course there are all those rules in uniformed service or with airline stewardesses which unfairly impact on women. Especially Asian women. Why must a MAS stewardess have a certain look? Why must she be of a certain age when with Airlines in the west having grandmothers serving us? Why must our MAS stewardesses be forced to use that awful figure hugging and bum and bust exagerating uniforms which seem to titilate, especially foreign men? I have seen the abuse of our MAS girls at 35,000 feet and get angry about it. Once again it seems like it is men who have set these policies.
I am not an expert on Islamic affairs. But I do know and understand the "superior" position assumed by men of your religion. I cannot say if they are right in what they do. If they say it is sanctified, who am I to say otherwise. Afterall everyone of you jointly chorus the usual refrain when a non-Muslim attempts to comment on it, that we could never appreciate or understand until you are a true Muslim or one who fully understands the language of the Prophet. But in the contemporary setting, the theory I have postulated has most of its evidence and examples coming from Muslim countries and from Muslim societies from the west as well. The non-Muslims are not exempt from that theory too. Just that it is only the Muslim world that has mandated a lot of the prejudice that attempts to keep women at bay. In other societies they give it other names, like, needing to be lady like, good girls, tradition, culture and whatever not to ensure certain type of accepted conduct. To me its all bullshit.
It is the insecurity that men feel with women and between men that we have most of the laws that govern our lives today. Why should that be so when God and nature has made us the way we are?
Promises, promises to no end. The time has come for us voters to think whether we should continue to give this man Badawi, the biggest liar in town, another resounding mandate.
Tunku Adnan should not pick on bloggers. In stead, he should tell his boss what we Malaysians think of this "esteemed" Islam Hadhari prophet. Unfortunately, our Minister of Tourism has no courage of conviction since the ministerial job is his bowl of rice and other things.
Our woman liberators have a big say on this time around. Whisper in the ears of your spouses, boyfriends, and secret lovers. It is time we (me included) all show how disgusted we are with the present administration.
I have always wanted to know an answer to this simple question :
Why do we have to call Muslims and non-Muslims ???
I have never heard of Christians/non-Christians, Buddhists/non-Buddhists, Hindus/non-Hindus.......
Post a Comment